I slowly walked back into the town called Edge. It had taken me some time to arrive here, if only because of the distance. As well as the fact that my legs hurt; one because of the gunshot wound, the other because of the fall. Curaga may heal the wound, but the pain often lingered after the spell completed its work. And I was feeling the pain full force now.
I winced as a particularly painful jolt went through my right leg. The pain would be gone soon. I mean, you had to feel something. Six weeks of recovery wrapped into about 30 seconds. So yeah, there's bound to be a little pain. I stretched and continued past the town square. I sat down on some boxes that lay in a street that led away from the square. I shut my eyes. And felt myself drift into the summon limbo.
I peered about lazily. I was feeling very tired for some reason. It was probably why I didn't notice the silver-haired man sneak up on me. He grabbed my arm and swung me around. His green eyes had slits for pupils. How odd. If Vaan was here I could already hear him asking about them... ahem subject change.
"Erm, hello? Can you release me?" I asked awkwardly. I had this thing about random strangers grabbing my arm. And besides, however cute this guy was (Gah teenage hormones), he had a death grip. My arm felt like it was going to drop off from lack of blood circulation. Which is not good. I happen to like my arm just where it is.
The man glared at me. Man, he had this death glare... like Penelo when she's about to scold Vaan for doing something stupid... more stupid. I couldn't help it. I giggled. It was pretty funny, that Penelo had a glare similar to a very scary man.
His death glare shut me up pretty quick. "Hello Cressida," he murmured. I gulped. I had a bad feeling.. the man was giving off major 'I am bad, don't piss me off' vibes. Yeah. 'Run away!!!' was what my mind was screaming. But he still had me in that death grip.
"So...ummmm...what do you need?" I asked, shifting my weight in an attempt to dislodge my arm. The attempt was futile. If anything he grasped it harder.
"What is going on?" he hissed. I blinked once. Twice. Thrice.
"What?" I managed to say. I was a little confused.
He seemed to be losing his cool. "What is this place?" he asked with a tone in his voice that brooked no disobedience.
I stared at him. Did he not know that he was a summon? I mean, the only people/things that were allowed in here, that would be the summons themselves and the summoner. Which was me. So that meant that he was a summon. Which reminded me.
"Who are you?" I asked. He didn't answer. All he did was press that humungous katana of his against my neck. I guess I should tell him. Maybe I'll live if I do.
"Just put the katana down," I managed to squeak out. It didn't budge. S$&#. The man might be hot, but man was he a bastard.
"Okay, how do I explain this?" I asked myself before I began. "This place is... a sort of limbo. For summons."
He stared at me for a few seconds. It was deathly silent.
"Cressida?" Aerith's voice shattered the silence. Aerith calmly walked towards us. Thank you, Faram.
"Hello Aerith," I said, relief coating my voice. I was pretty sure that she could help me.
"Sephiroth, what are you doing?" Aerith asked.
"Why do you care, Cetra?" the man, who I now knew was called Sephiroth, inquired, his voice laced with derision.
"Were you harassing Cressida?" she asked, taking note of the katana that was pressed against my throat.
"Will you put the katana down? And let me go?" I managed to interject. No such luck. All Sephiroth did was glare at me.
"What is going on? Sephiroth asked harshly. I never heard the answer. Not fair. Somebody disturbed my physical body. I slipped out of the limbo and blinked several times to clear the spots out of my eyes.
"Cressida?" a vaguely familiar voice asked. I focused on the source of the voice. It was that little girl again. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Marlene.
"Yes," I replied, stretching to relieve my back muscles. They had cramped while I was in the summon limbo.
The girl smiled at me. "I thought it was you," she said. "What brings you here?"
I glanced around. As it turned out the boxes upon which I sat upon were right next to a place called 7th Heaven. Interesting name.
"Is that where you live?" I inquired. Marlene nodded and grabbed my hand.
"C'mon, I want you to meet Tifa," she said. I reluctantly agreed. I still had no clue who those three people who attacked me were. I had lost most of my stuff and...
Oh my Faram. My book!! My Shakespeare book!! It was gone, stolen. Oh s$&#. That was the last thing Vi had given me. In fact, the day she had given me that book had been the last day that she spent in this life. She departed this life three hours later. Because of that book. Vi had stolen it. And the Imperials came calling. I can still see her body, lying in a pool of her own blood...
"Are you okay?" Marlene's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Eh what?" I asked distractedly. I shook my head several times to clear it. I needed to find that book. That was the bottom line.
"You were starting to cry," Marlene said. "Are you hurt?"
"No," I murmured. "You were going to introduce me to this Tifa?" I asked to change the subject. Marlene smiled and led me inside 7th Heaven.
It turned out to be a bar. There were several tables surrounded by stools and a line of stools by the counter. A woman stood behind it, washing dishes. She seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts.
"Tifa, Tifa," Marlene called, running up to the woman. "This is Cressida." She began to tug on the woman's skirt to get her attention.
Tifa glanced up and upon seeing me looked like she had seen a ghost. Marlene continued, unaware of the look.
"Hello," I said walking over to a stool and sitting down. "Do you mind?" I asked.
"No," Tifa replied, setting down the dish she had been washing. "You know, you look..."
"Like someone you knew. Yeah, yeah, I've heard this spiel already," I grumbled. I swear death will come to the next idiot who says that to me.
The woman smiled slightly. "It's getting annoying, isn't it?"
I smiled back. "It is. I don't care who I look like. I'm not them. I'm me," I told her.
"How old are you?" Tifa asked with a shake of her head.
I paused before I responded. Could I trust her? I gnawed my lip. Well what the heck. "I'm 17," I told her. "Why?"
"Just curiosity," she replied, picking up the dish that she had set down and began to clean it. You know now that I think about it, she was probably checking to see if I was customer material. Which it seems I wasn't. What is the legal age here?
"Do you own this bar?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied proudly. I smiled back. She seemed like a nice person.
"Hey Cressida, where's your stuff?" Marlene asked. Oh dear, how to answer this question?
"Was it stolen?" Tifa asked concerned. Technically, yes it was stolen. But... aww screw it.
I nodded. "But I'm sure I'll find it." I had to. One, that book in my bag. Two, that staff had cost a pretty penny. Three, it was my stuff and there was no way in hell that I was going to allow somebody to get away with taking it. No way Josè.
Tifa looked concernedly at me. "Does that mean you don't have any clothes on you?"
I nodded. It was true unfortunately. "I do have some gil on me though," I added in my defense.
Tifa took it in stride. "We can go get you some clothes tomorrow."
"Wait what?" I asked confused. When had I been staying here?
"You're staying here until further notice. You don't have anywhere else to stay do you?" Tifa insisted. She had a point. I didn't want to sleep out on the streets. I had done enough of that in my youth in Rabanastre.
Tifa smiled, seeing that she had won the argument. "Here, let me take you to the spare room." She began to usher me up the stairs. I mumbled several protests, but they went unheeded. Tifa managed to get me to the door of the room before I managed to ask a question.
"How many people live here?" I managed to get out.
"Four," Marlene piped up. "There's me and Tifa, then there's Denzel, he's over at his friend's house, and Cloud. He's out delivering something."
Tifa opened the door. "I'll come get you when dinner's ready," she informed me, while she ushered me in. "The door over there leads to the bathroom," she said and shut the door.
I blinked several times. What had just happened?? I shrugged and walked over to where the bathroom was. I needed a shower.
Disclaimer: Moonshine owns nothing, zip, sero zilch. Sad but true.
New Chapter. And I think I mutilate Seph's personality. Grrrrrr... Oh well. Life goes on. ((At least until Seph's fangirls come and kill me... oh dear...)) Many thanks to my reviewers: Devil-Speaker and Lady Karai. You both recieve Reno plushies!! Thank you!!!!
Please review!!! If you do, you will recieve a Tifa plushie!! Heheh.. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!